Great news! I’ve been invited to exhibit several of my pieces over the next two summers at the HUB – Robeson Galleries at Penn State University! The invitation was a lovely and unexpected surprise. Someone from Penn State saw some of my paintings on display last year at an event where I made a presentation about Art & Healing. She mentioned me to the gallery director and after reviewing some of my work, invited me to exhibit. My paintings of women will be on display June – September 2016 and they expressed an interest in having me exhibit my animal paintings in Summer 2017. I don’t have many details yet, so I’ll post information as it becomes available.

I’ve been quite troubled by the state of the world of late. Sometimes “taking it to the canvas” (as my teacher/mentor, Shiloh Sophia McCloud says) is the only way to get my feelings out. Painting is incredibly healing for me and brings me a lot of peace. I created this piece in acrylics on a 30 x 40 canvas while listening to the music of Hildegard von Bingen.

Week 2 of the course, “Studying under the Masters – Becoming an Apprentice” features Antonio Gaudi and was taught by artist istructor, Junelle Jacobsen. What a treat…didn’t know much about Gaudi’s work and really enjoyed getting to know this master better. I chose to focus on his famous Casa Batlló in Barcelona.

I decided to work with materials that I don’t use on a regular basis. For this piece, I used my Caran D’Ache Water soluble crayons, graphite, inktense colored pencils, Golden fluid acrylics, and beeswax as a top seal.

Step 1 Graphite Sketch

Step 2 – First Layer of Color

I used Caran D’Ache water soluble crayons and Inktense colored pencils to add the first layer of color.

Step 3 – Glazing

During Step 3, I applied a layer of glaze made from Golden Fluid Acrylic (Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold) and water.

Step 4 – Post Glazing Highlights

In Step 4, I had to enhance elements and add highlights which were muted during the glazing process.

Step 6 – PreWax Adding Another Color Layer

I decided to try adding a top layer of melted beeswax to my piece; however, since I know that wax can really mute colors, I added another layer of color using the Caron D’Ache crayons and Golden Fluid Acrylics (Violet Oxide and Burnt Sienna).

Step 7 – After a Layer of Beeswax

Step 7 involved melting beeswax in a makeshift double-boiler (a glass jar placed in a saucepan with water (heated on medium high). Once the wax was melted, I poured it on the surface of my painting and brushed with a foam brush. I hit a big snag because the house was fairly cool (winter in Pennsylvania) and the wax hardened almost immediately upon hitting the canvas. I had lots of very uneven was which made portions of the painting cloudy. I wasn’t sure what to do, since this was the very first time I’d used was…but decided to put the whole piece on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper into a 300 degree oven. After a few minutes in the oven, the wax re-melted and smoothed out. I pulled it out of the over and placed on a cooling rack. Problem solved…nice smooth surface!

Below is a comparison, so you can see the “before & after” showing the difference beeswax makes. I readily admit, I had NO IDEA what I was doing with the wax…but…I love to play and experiment, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did!

I recently started a new, online course titled, “Studying under the Masters – Becoming an Apprentice”. This 9 week course is offered by Jeanne Oliver and features 9 different teachers, covering one master artist per week. The whole idea of the course is to learn about the master artist’s lives, their work, their processes, their inspiration, etc. and to spend some focused time “copying” their work or their style so you can learn. I’ve had a blast already…so much fun even trying to select which of Matisse’s wonderful pieces I would attempt to copy. I finally settled on one of his pieces titled “Finestra” (1916).

It was nice to step outside of my normal style for a few hours. I’ve spent much of my of the last year painting feminine archetypes and I enjoyed trying something new. I started out by applying a base coat of mixed golden yellow and amber shades of acrylics to an 8 x 10″ canvas, sketched the outline in charcoal, painted the outline with Golden fluid acrylics, did color-blocking and added details.

It’s HARVEST TIME! Autumn is just around the corner and the stores and markets are full of beautiful and colorful fruits and vegetables. Bright sunflower and mums of every fall hue can be found on front porches and I’m even starting to see pumpkins and scarecrows in the neighborhood yards.

In celebration of the end of summer (and the end of my vacation), I treated my daughter and myself to a painting workshop entitled, “The Harvest Queen” offered by my wonderful and inspiring instructor, Shiloh Sophia McCloud with guest instructor, Christine Arylo. Shiloh offers monthly courses online via LiveStream, so students can attend from the comfort of their own homes. Women from four continents attended “The Harvest Queen”…and the dedicated women from Australia (aka OZ) tuned in to the class before sunrise. A special Facebook group was set up so that students could interact and post pictures of their work and progress.

My daughter and I had a great time in my studio, sipping wine as we painted. We decorated the studio for the occasion with a bouquet of flowers, a basket of fruits and veggies and a few candles.

I spent a recent Friday afternoon and evening bathed in the sweet and sticky, wet and wild Land of “The Honey Jar”. (Yes, real honey WAS involved!).

The class was online via LiveStream from California and offered by my brilliant instructor and mentor, Shiloh Sophia McCloud and her partner Jonathan Lewis.

As a student, you can interact with women from around the world throughout the sessions via chat and Facebook. You can also post your progress and final work (if you feel brave and want to share). More courses from Shiloh coming soon…if you’re interested in learning more, let me know. You CAN learn to paint!

Today, I popped on Facebook and happened upon a gorgeous painting – “She Lived” created by one of my favorite teachers, Sharon Tomlinson (All Norah’s Art). The painting was of a couple (Sharon and her husband) in a style inspired by artist, Peter Michev. I enjoyed both Sharon’s version and Peter’s art so much, I decided to spend my Sunday Studio Time painting a couple in a similar style.